Progression & Regression Applied - part 1

Progression and regression is about analyzing, planning, and practicing. It can be a tricky thing to wrap your head around. But in trying, you can take your physical practice to another level and get more out of the time you’re already spending on yoga and movement. So, before we all go bananas after the summer 'to get in shape' why not embrace a few thoughts on progression and regression?

In this series I will cover:

What progression & regression means

Why you should care

And how to proceed

Progression Defined

One way to define progression is “the act of moving forward or advancing toward a specific goal” (Kraemer, 2009). Regression would be the opposite. When it comes to discussing progression and regression, there are a few key concepts to cover:

Specificity - What you should practice.

Progressive Overload - How much you should practice to get a certain result and how much (or little) you can practice without increasing your risk of getting injured.

Variation - How you can optimize your practice. The difference between health and performance.

Periodization - Why you should plan your hard work and rest.

Trainable Characteristics

There are a lot of characteristics that you can take into account for your movement training; speed, strength, power, balance, coordination, hypertrophy, local muscle endurance, jumping activity, flexibility, motor performance and so on (Kraemer, 2009).